A short biography
The Continental Op
Blood Money
Red Harvest
The Dain Curse
The Maltese Falcon:
The novel
The movie
The 75th anniversary
The Glass Key
The Thin Man
Woman in the Dark
The short story collections
The novels in one
volume
Books about Hammett
Interview with Hammett authority George J. "Rhino" Thompson
Chronology of Hammett's fiction
Hammett's army days
"Dashiell Hammett Place"
Hammett's Post Street
apartment:
A photo tour (2005)
Declared a
landmark (2005)
The Flood Building
Links to other Hammett sites
Contact Mike
mikehumbert.com homepage
This site is dedicated to all the people like Don Herron, Bill Arney, Richard Layman, William F. Nolan, Josephine Hammett Marshall, Julie M. Rivett, Steven Marcus, Joe Gores and others who have kept 1920s San Francisco in the here and now.
Special thanks to Vince Emery for his many helpful contributions to this website.
Entire website copyright 2003, 2004 & 2005 by Mike Humbert.
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Blood Money is considered by many Hammett scholars to be Hammett’s true first novel, predating Red Harvest by two years. It originally appeared as two short stories in Black Mask in 1927 under the titles “The Big Knockover” and “$106,000 Blood Money.” It was not presented as a single novel until 1943, when it appeared in softcover and cheap hardcover editions. However, since 1966 it has again been split into two stories.
So... is Blood Money Hammett’s first novel or not? I won’t commit myself one way or the other, but I will say that Hammett apparently didn’t consider it so. In the mid-1930s he rejected plans for his publisher to release it as his latest hardcover novel; he judged it a sub-par effort, not worthy of salvage. Most Hammett fans would strongly disagree.
In addition to being action-packed, Blood Money makes an excellent lead-in to Red Harvest. Here are the seeds of the Op going “blood simple” in the later novel, being so immersed in violence that he begins to embrace it, even relish it.
Perhaps best of all is Hammett's roll-call of rogues: a seemingly-endless list of the most outlandish nicknames ever assembled in one place, including Alphabet Shorty McCoy, Toby the Lugs, The Shivering Kid and... well, you'll want to read the rest for yourself.
2) World, 1943 (hardcover with dust jacket)
3) Dell, 1944 (paperback)
5) Dell, 1951 (paperback)
Currently included (as two stories) in Crime Stories and Other Writings, Library of America, 2001